When you live in a house, you know that the systems in it (HVAC, plumbing etc.) all have a limited life. The question is…will you be there when one quits? If not, you could be in for substantial damage and financial loss. Home systems can represent up to 20% of the home’s total cost!
With regular maintenance, you expect that your home electrical and mechanical systems will have a full and problem-free life. The reality is that there are numerous ways that they can eventually fail, including:
- Deterioration
- Wear and tear
- Mechanical breakdown
- Latent defect
- Corrosion
These Home Systems Will Eventually "Konk Out"
Nowadays, home mechanical and electrical systems are not as simple as they once were. They can be quite complicated, and can be comprised of multiple systems within them, opening your home to wider risks.
Here are some of the systems that commonly fail:
- HVAC systems (heating, air conditioning, ventilation)
- Electrical systems
- Hot water heating
- Water filtration
- Wells & well pumps
- Appliances (kitchen and laundry)
- Smart home technology
- Security systems
- Green systems (solar, geothermal, etc.)
- Generators
- Home battery systems
- Pool pumps and other pool systems
Surprisingly, the small print in many standard homeowners policies commonly exclude these failures and can deny coverage for physical loss or damage to the systems. For example, the International Risk Management Institute states that inherent vice is an exclusion found in most property insurance policies that eliminates coverage for loss caused by a quality in the property that causes it to damage or destroy itself. You’ll want to check the small print and may want to include additional coverage.
If you are not home when a system fails, the damage can be catastrophic. For example, with a burst pipe, water damage can not only ruin flooring and walls, it can destroy personal belongings in nearby rooms. An electrical fire can cause much more extensive damage or even totally destroy your family home.
Don’t Risk Your Home While You’re Away. Use Golden Rule Home Watch.
When you hire Golden Rule Home Watch to monitor your home while you’re away, we go through it on a mutually agreed-upon schedule using our 30-point checklist, inspecting critical systems for signs of failure or potential failure. If there are specific requests, as perhaps monitoring built-in aquarium systems, hot tubs, ponds or pools, we add those to our list. Your home watch is customized to your particular needs. After each visit, you receive a full electronic report via email.
Knowing that all home systems will eventually fail, we know what to look for to ensure that your mechanical and electrical systems are maintained and functioning properly. We can change filters if needed, and schedule maintenance with service providers on your behalf. We schedule the appointments, let the service personnel in, stay with them during the service call to monitor their progress, and inspect their final work.
Most importantly, through our Residential Home Watch process, we monitor regularly to look for signs of potential problems, most often on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. We inspect both the interior and exterior of your home, along with the electrical and mechanical home systems. If we do discover a leak or notice a problem, we notify you immediately and recommend a plan of action and associated costs. You decide what to do next.
Shut Down and Wake Up Services
After you leave, we can set your systems for low occupancy, like turning down the thermostats and shutting off hot water heaters and water mains. And before you return, we can restore your home’s systems to occupancy functions so you can step right back into your life without a care.
Having your neighbors watch your house isn’t the same as having a professional Home Watch service monitor it. We know what to look for to protect your investment. For more information on Golden Rule Home Watch, or for a free phone consultation, contact us at 855-928-2424 or [email protected].